Backing up Audio Files/Sessions

[dan wool]

Any results on that vxa tape drive yet? I was ready to buy a DDS drive until I came aross their ad.

[E-an]

Yeah, if you could post some opinons about the VXA Tape drives I'd be extremely grateful as this is going to be one of the next purchases for the studio.

Thanks in advance

E

[Captain Crunch]

well, the VXA is a little weird. it writes to tape at quite varied speeds, from 100 mb/minute up to an unbelievable 170 mb/min. But verifying is way slower, and I just tried an expermental restore, and it was going at something like 4 MB/min.
maybe my unit is screwed up--
I'm calling them tomorrow to see what they have to say.

[beggehorn]

Just to bring up CD backups again. . .

I used to feel like cd backups were too hard to manage because of the relatively small storage space and the need to keep extensive records as to what was backed up where. I read a post about Retrospect (by Dantz) amonth or two ago and gave it a shot. It is AMAZING! I can't rave about it enough. It allows you to span cds and verifies the data after a burn. I do two things to simplify the process and it has worked flawlessly for me. The first thing to do is to learn how to trim the silence off of tracks and then delete unused files and compact all the audio. This will save so much time when it comes to the backup and for subsequent restorations (also saves hd space). The other thing I do is to backup each song/project to its own backup set. This allows me to easily manage and update a session after I've added tracks or have done any editing. I can't imagine using anything else at this point.

[DigiDawg]

Beggehorn,

Thanks for the info. Would you be willing to post the url and/or the search keyword that you used for the post that you mentioned?

Also, are you working with 24 bit files? I currently use CDR as a backup too, but with 16 bit files only.

Phobia,

We currently burn our 16 bit sessions with Adaptec Toast using the Mac Files & Folders setting. Does this preference need to change for 24 bit? Or, were you referring to something else?

Thanks for the great (and helpful) post.

DigiDawg

[tld]

I don't know if this is the thread Beggehorn is referring to, but it's about using Retrospect Express to back up to CDR:
http://www.digidesign.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000998.html

Tom

[spigots]

Howdy!
I'm using Mezzo and DDS 3 right now,And burning a safety CDR as well. I am VERY interested in the Retrospect express. Can the two live happily on the same computer?
I ask this because I've been told that having Retrospect for DDS 3 AND Mezzo for DDS 3 will cause some serious conflicts.
Thanks
Frank

[E-an]

I just have a quick question while this thread is running.......

When a tape drive is installed does it appear as a volume on the desktop?

How do you actually backup to it... can data just be copied as with anything... or does it have to be done through a system like retrospect that supports the tape drive?

[rat1016]

Hey, E-an,
No, tapes do not mount on the desktop.
You need to use an application like Retrospect to backup. Retrospect creates a
"backup set" which contians a snapshot of the contents to be backed up.Its a great application.You need the "Desktop" version
in order to use a tape drive.
hasta,rat1016

[This message has been edited by rat1016 (edited June 12, 2000).]

[beggehorn]

check out Dantz.com for Retrospect Express